A world without Damon Salvatore
by bibi 13ca
Summary: Like the title says, how would things turn out in a world where Damon never existed and how would Elena react to it. This would be just three chapters long.
1. Chapter 1

**N: **_I was reading some fan-fiction here, trying to feel better after the last episode disappointed me and came up with this idea somehow. Hope you'll enjoy it! _

_Thank you Valerie (2serendipity) for your help!_

**Reality sets in**

She opened her eyes and looked at the clock beside the bed. It was 7:30 am already. She usually woke up at 6:30 am. Damn, she'd be late, again. She turned around and watched Stefan sleep for a minute. He was _not_ a morning person and she was, but she didn't mind. She slid out of bed slowly, so she wouldn't wake him, and disappeared behind the bathroom door.

After a quick shower, she headed downstairs, into the kitchen and made coffee. She poured herself a big cup and went into the living room to enjoy drinking it. She took a seat on the couch and looked around for a few minutes. It looked different…wrong, like something was missing.

"Good morning," she heard Stefan say before she had the chance to re-evaluate the room to establish what was wrong with it.

"Morning, I've made coffee," she said and he just nodded. "Well, I have to go. I'm late for school," she said and ran up the stairs.

Elena stuck a few books in her back-pack and left, waving at Stefan and telling him they'd talk later.

She found Bonnie in the bathroom at school half an hour later. There was something different about her friend too. 'What's with all the different things today?' she asked herself. It must be her hair.

"Did you do something with your hair?" she asked.

"No," Bonnie answered simply.

Elena raised her shoulders and they both left the little girl's room. Elena headed west and Bonnie headed in the opposite direction.

"Bonnie, where are you going? Don't we have history together?"

"I know that. The history lab is this way."

"That's strange. Alaric always said that going into the lab is a waste of time."

"Who's Alaric?" Bonnie asked, confusion written on her face.

"Hello? Alaric Saltzman? Our history teacher…" Elena answered, rolling her eyes.

"His name is William Tanner, not Alaric Seltzer or whatever you said."

"Saltzman…" Elena corrected her.

"Like I said. _Whatever._ I don't know whom you are talking about. The dude has been our teacher for two years, Elena, and you still don't know his name…?"

Now it was Elena's turn to look at her friend like she was crazy. Coach Tanner was dead. An animal…wait, make that Damon, killed him quite some time ago. He couldn't be… alive now.

"Elena, are you ok? You seem… a little bit off…" Bonnie asked, concerned.

"Yeah…no…I'm fine. Just tired, I guess. Where's Caroline? Considering that she can run from her house to…" she stopped in the middle of her sentence once she saw the shocked expression on her friend's face.

"What…what did I say?" Elena asked.

"What's wrong with you? Asking me if Caroline's coming to school, seriously?"

"Yeah…what's wrong with that?"

"Elena…you…Caroline is dead. I know you miss her, I do too, but we have to move forward."

"Bonnie… Look, I know you don't approve of her being a vampire and all, but don't you think you're taking this too far? I thought we were past that. Are you and Care fighting again?"

"Vampire…?" Bonnie asked confused. "Elena, your boyfriend is a vampire, the guy that attacked you that night was a vampire, your evil doppelganger is a vampire…Caroline is dead…as in _dead_, dead."

Elena's head started spinning and she could swear her feet were now made of rubber. Her friend was not dead, she couldn't be…Caroline was a _vampire_. She thought about Caroline being dead, Bonnie seemed pretty sure about it, but how was it possible? How did that happen, or when? And she didn't even remember. A vampire attacked her and she didn't remember that either. Something was not right here …

"How did Caroline die?" she asked. Maybe that would help her remember?

"Do you…at the Founder's day parade. She fainted; we took her to the emergency room. She had internal bleeding. The doctors did what they could, but…they…they couldn't save her."

Elena took a deep breath, in a failed attempt to calm herself and understand what was going on. At the Founder's day parade she had been preoccupied, saving Damon…and Stefan, or Stefan and Damon…whatever. She hadn't taken Caroline to the emergency room. She did remember that Caroline had been at the hospital, but not because she'd fainted… Damon had given her blood and made her all better. Why was Bonnie telling her a different story now? She wanted to ask her about it, but another question was already on her lips.

"What about the vampire that attacked me? When did that happen?"

"You really don't remember?" Bonnie asked.

"No…" she whispered.

"I don't know many details about that. You didn't…or don't, talk about it…. And you've been scared of Stefan for months. You wouldn't let him near you or near me for that matter. You had been so scared…I was afraid it wouldn't pass, but it finally did a few weeks ago. Thank God, I was beginning to believe I'd lost you. Caroline was going crazy over it, especially since she didn't know it had been a vampire that attacked you. She yelled at her mom for not catching the culprit over and over again."

"So it happened before Caroline died?"

"Yes, some time before…"

"Bonnie…" I started crying; at this point I was close to braking down "I…something's wrong, Bonnie…I don't remember any of this…. It's like it never happened, or actually…I remember it happening differently."

"Come on, I'll take you home!" Bonnie said and grabbed Elena's hand, pulling her towards the exit. "It's going to be ok, just breathe deeply, it's going to be ok!"

Bonnie kept whispering soft encouraging words to Elena all the way to the Boarding House, although it didn't really help Elena calm down. Her world had just been turned upside-down. People she knew to be dead were alive and people she knew to be alive (well, hypothetically speaking, since Caroline was a vampire, and thus technically dead) were dead. Her friend was talking about some kind of attack that she didn't remember _at all_. It was bad…very bad. Probably she had finally lost it and gone crazy. It was to be expected. After all, how much could one person take? With all the doppelganger sacrifice and all her loved ones in danger 24/7…who could blame her? But this looked even worse than crazy…

In less than ten minutes they were at the Boarding House. Elena was seated in an arm-chair and Bonnie and Stefan were standing just a few steps away from her.

"I don't know, Bonnie, she seemed ok this morning. She made coffee and left for school…nothing unusual." Stefan said, frowning.

"Well, Stefan, something is definitely wrong. She asked me when Caroline would come to school! She doesn't remember some things and confuses others. I told her about the accident and she really doesn't seem to remember it happening. You and I both know how much that marked her, how could she forget something like that?"

"Hello, people. I'm standing right here. You should _stop_ talking like I'm not in the room!" Elena protested.

"She keeps asking me about a guy named Damon, like I'm supposed to know him." Bonnie continued, ignoring Elena's cries.

Stefan turned around and walked to Elena. He kneeled down in front of her and put a reassuring hand on her knee. The gesture disturbed her more than reassured her, but she didn't pull away.

"Elena…who's Damon? If I remember correctly, you murmured his name a few times in your sleep last night too…" he asked softly.

"Ok, you're kidding, right?" she saw the perplex look on Stefan's face and she knew that he wasn't joking. He didn't know what she was talking about. This was getting ridiculous.

"Damon…as in, your brother Damon?" she answered, getting a bit frustrated. For some reason she felt like they were playing a bad, bad joke on her.

"Brother? What are you…Elena, I was an only child. I already told you this."

Elena jumped up from the armchair as soon as she realized what was missing from the room this morning. She ignored the questions in Stefan's eyes and walked over to the liquor cabinet. It was almost empty, except for a bottle of water and one can of Coke. No multiple sorts of bourbon, no blood bottles, no tequila bottles and no half empty glass by the edge of the table…_this_ was missing…_his_ touch was missing…_his_ smell was missing…_he_ was missing…

Without thinking twice about it, she ran upstairs, straight to what she knew to be Damon's room. She turned the handle and pushed the door open. She stepped inside and looked around. The room looked like no one had _ever_ lived there. It was just a cold, empty room, with a ridiculously huge bed in the middle of it.

She walked towards the closet and opened it. It was as empty as the room…. No John Varvatos shirts, no low-rise dark jeans, no leather jackets…just an empty space…

She felt herself go hot and then cold …her heart was beating faster than a drum and her hands started shaking in what she recognized to be a 'panic attack', as the realization hit her.

"No, no…I can't…I can't be living in a world where Damon Salvatore doesn't exist!" Elena mumbled to herself, although she wasn't the only one listening to those words…

**N: **_Here you go. I know the first chapter is a bit confusing, but that's kind of the point, lol. Anyway, I have the second chapter already written and the beginning of the 3th one, so I'll probably post it anyway, but please tell me if it's bullshit! _


	2. Chapter 2

**N: **_So, this is the second chapter, hope you like it…_

_As always a big thank you to Valerie (2serendipity) for her help!_

**The consequences**

They were back in the living room. Bonnie and Stefan were doing their best to calm Elena. She'd been crying, yelling and cursing for the last forty minutes or so. There was only _so much_ she could take…

It looked like she was indeed living in a world where Damon had never existed. Just thinking about it pushed her straight into another panic attack. 'This can't be happening!' she thought to herself. Damon had to be 'alive' (well, undead); he needed to be there for her…to take care of her, to save her…. 'What did a world without Damon Salvatore look like? It should be better, right?' But was it? Because Damon had never existed, Caroline had died; because he hadn't been there to give her his blood and save her. Because Damon had never existed, Coach Tanner was still alive. So did that mean that…every person that Damon killed (directly or indirectly) was still alive?

"So, Vicky's alive?" she didn't realize she'd asked the question out loud until she heard Stefan answer it.

"Oh, you mean the girl that used to go out with your brother?" he asked.

"Yes, that one," she answered.

Stefan placed his hand over hers and Elena knew that was a bad sign.

"She died of an overdose a few months ago. And since then…well…your brother…let's just say, he took the path to self-destruction."

"What do you mean by that?"

"He…he's a drug addict, he dropped out of school…"

"Oh God…"

"That's not the worst part…" Stefan whispered and Elena's eyes found his.

"Whatever it is, just spill it! I will find out sooner or later," she demanded.

"He tried to kill himself…twice," Stefan said after a few moments of silence.

"What? How could you let that happen? How could _I_ let that happen?" she asked. She didn't realize she'd started crying again until she felt Stefan's cold fingers wiping the tears from her face.

"I'm sorry, Elena, I tried compelling him a few times, but because of my diet…it didn't work," Stefan said, looking at her with an apologetic look on his face.

'And there I was, thinking Damon had been a bad influence on him…' Elena thought.

Losing Vicky so soon after his parents' death had been too much for him. Damon hadn't been there to take it away, to make it easier on him, so he snapped. It all made a strange sort of sense, but at the same time, it didn't.

"What about Lexi?" she asked…moving on to another one of Damon's victims.

"Who's Lexi?" Stefan asked, surprised.

Elena looked at him, incapable of hiding the surprise that was written all over her face. It didn't make any sense. How could it be that Stefan didn't know who Lexi was: where did Damon fit in that equation? Little did she know that Damon had been the one to meet Lexi _first_ and that Damon had sent her to Stefan. He had also been the one that had begged her to take care of his little brother before he left Mystic Falls. Without Lexi's help, it had taken Stefan years and years to transform into the person he was today.

Elena looked at the floor, playing with her hair…she was afraid to ask, but she needed to know…

"Hm, what about…Isobel?" She asked with restraint, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

Her birth mother had found Damon, Damon had turned her into a vampire. So… if Damon had never existed, making it impossible for Isobel to find him, did that mean that Isobel was still human?

"Your birth mother?" he asked.

"Yes…" she answered, a sparkle playing in her eyes as he seemed to know whom she was talking about for a change.

"Elena…we looked for her, right after I told you you were adopted…"

"And…" she pushed.

Bonnie moved closer and shook her head in denial at Stefan.

"She needs to know, Bonnie…"

"Know what?" Elena interrupted.

"Elena, your birth mother had been dead for the past 3 years. She was killed by an animal."

Elena covered her mouth with her hand, to hold in a scream. She knew immediately that her mother must have been killed by a vampire; not by an animal. What she didn't know was whether Isobel had tried to find another vampire, one that, unlike Damon, didn't have 'turning someone' on his 'to-do' list, and that he killed her instead. So Damon might have turned her into a damned creature, but at least she was a living undead damned creature.

Elena felt like she was trapped inside a snow-globe, minus the snow. Her world seemed to be turned upside-down by a missing person… how many times had she wished that Damon had never come to Mystic Falls? How many times had she wished that he had never existed? … Not once had she thought that that could be such a bad thing.

"I need to process this…it's too much…" she said and got up from the chair.

"Of course," Stefan approved.

"I'm going to go home…I still have one, right?" she asked and Stefan smiled slightly, even if they both knew she was being serious.

"Yes, of course you do," Bonnie answered.

"And Jenna…she's…still alive?"

"Yes, she is; heartbroken, but very much alive."

"Heartbroken…?"

"Well…yeah, over that news guy, what was his name again? Logan, something…"

Logan, what would her aunt still be…oh, wait! Of course…Damon never turned Isobel, she'd really died. Alaric never saw Damon doing it, so he never came to Mystic Falls to look for him. Alaric had never met her aunt, so she was still all over that first class jerk.

"Are you ok?" Stefan asked, seeing her cheeks change color.

"Yes…I'll be fine. I just…I never realized how many things Damon changed in my life until now," she answered, forgetting for a second there, that they had no idea who Damon was.

"Elena…this guy…you keep talking about him…he seems important to you…do you…are you…ah, never mind!" Stefan meant to ask her if she'd been in love with this Damon guy she kept talking about…but something stopped him…and he realized he didn't really want to know.

"You've made me all curious about this guy…" Bonnie said, "…I think it's time we meet." As she said this, she moved closer to Elena. "Give me your hands!" she ordered and Elena obliged. At least her best friend was still a witch. "Now, close your eyes and think about this guy, picture him in your mind!"

Elena closed her eyes and Damon's blue ones popped into her head. The image brought a smile to her face that made Stefan move uncomfortably.

"You're talking, girl…he is HOT. Oh…he's a vampire too. You've saved him…from a fire, sort of…and he's saved you. He…he's in love with you…" At the last words, Elena opened her eyes, which broke Bonnie's connection.

"Hey, you weren't supposed to open your eyes." Bonnie protested.

"I saw an image of you and him…in a bar…you were so happy…I haven't seen you smile like that in years…" she said.

Elena knew immediately what her friend was talking about…but she decided to play dumb.

"Probably my memories are all mixed up…"

"No, I don't think so. This guy…is everywhere; in your mind…in your soul…in your heart…" Bonnie said, looking straight into Elena's eyes.

"Yes…he is a very big part of me…" Elena admitted. "Bonnie, I need to ask you something…"The other girl nodded, and Elena went on, "…is your grams still alive?"

She just needed to know if Damon was responsible for the death of her best friend's grandmother. Just like Bonnie reproached her so many times.

Bonnie bit her lip and took a deep breath before answering.

"She died two months before Caroline…in her sleep actually." She answered.

Elena pulled Bonnie into a tight hug, and then turned her attention back to Stefan.

"The night that the vampire attacked me, I had an accident, right?"

"Yes…"

"That night…I left because I saw that picture of Katherine…"

"So, you remember?" Stefan asked, sounding somewhat excited.

"She looked just like me, I freaked out, I felt betrayed and lied to…" she said, remembering the exact feeling she'd had that night. She also remembered the accident and how terrified she had been when she saw the man in the middle of the road pulling himself up and walking towards her…she remembered Damon saving her…but this time he hadn't, because he'd never existed, and so the vampire had attacked her.

"You took off before I had the chance to explain. You hit a vampire with your car and he attacked you." Stefan said calmly. He took a few steps forward and pulled the material of her t-shirt down, revealing her shoulder.

"He bit you… pretty bad. When I got there, it was too late…you were…almost dead. I gave you my blood but since it wasn't strong enough, you still have the scars…"

Elena moved in front of the huge mirror on the wall and took a long look at the scar on her shoulder.

"Scars…" she said.

"Yes, you have another one on the back of your neck," Stefan said and she turned around.

That one looked even worse…she couldn't stop the growl that came out of her throat.

Damon had saved her that night…in so many ways…. Giving her the time out she needed, taking care of her, and most of all…because of him she didn't have those scars on her body…but this was the real word…a world in which he never existed and she had the scars to prove it.

"I have to go…I'll be fine…I just need some time." She said.

She kissed Stefan on his cheek, gave Bonnie a quick hug and got out of the house, almost running towards her car.

A few hours later she was reading the big bright sign on the right side of the road that said, 'Welcome to Georgia'.

**N: **_I had no idea Elena is going to just leave and stop in Georgia when I started this chapter…she just did, lol. Do you still like the idea or I should just go and shot myself? Review and tell me! _


	3. Chapter 3

**N: **_So, there it is, the last chapter, hope you'll enjoy!_

_As always, thank you Valerie (2serendipity) for her great, great work on this!_

**I need you in my life**

Elena pulled up her car in front of Bree's bar and jumped out. She took a few seconds to relive the time she'd been there with Damon. This place was the closest to him she could think of, and she needed to feel close to him right now. She remembered how protective he had been with her; even when they'd barely known each other… she took a deep breath and started walking towards the bar. Just before she had the chance to step inside, a guy came out of nowhere and stopped her.

'This is it,' Elena thought, 'This guy is going to have his way with me, then kill me, and Damon won't be here to save me, like he usually does…because he doesn't exist!'

"I'm going to need an ID before I let you in, missy!" The guy said, and Elena sighed regretfully.

'_I'm not old enough; they're not going to let me in, Damon.'_

'_Sure they will; you're with me.'_

"Oh…I…I'm here to see Bree. I'm a friend of hers, she's expecting me," Elena said, anxiously looking for some kind of recognition in his eyes - and she found it. The guy smiled at her and told her to 'go inside'.

She spotted Bree behind the bar the moment she entered the room. She took a long look around, remembering everything from that day…so clearly…'But it didn't happen,' she thought to herself. No, it did…she felt it. She recognized everything inside…the pool table, the glasses, the old jukebox … She remembered every detail.

She walked to the bar and took a seat right in the chair she had occupied last time.

"Hello, I'm Elena, you probably don't know who I am, but I'm pretty sure I know you. Your name is Bree; you went to college in Atlanta. You met a certain guy there and you fell in love with him. He had a secret…a big one. But that made you want him even more, since you had a secret of your own. You are a _witch_ and he was a _vampire_…. His name was Damon…" Elena said and crossed her fingers. She didn't care that she sounded insane; that was the way she remembered things, so that was the way she was going to say it.

"Damian, his name was Damian, not Damon, but great memory though; it's been what, seven months? And I do remember you…from Alex's party. That's where we met, right?"

Elena just nodded weakly, not knowing what else to do. Of course she had no idea what party or who Alex was…but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore, because _he_ had never existed…

"Can I get you a drink? You look like you could use one." Bree asked.

"Oh, please. Let's start with a beer and a big hamburger; extra pickles please!" She hated pickles, but _he_ loved them… so she'd eat them just to remind herself of _him_.

'_You don't like pickles? What's wrong with you?'_

Three hours later Elena was drunk and angry. She had tried to call Damon for the past hour and a half and every time, there was that annoying voice telling her that the number she'd dialed didn't exist. As if it too, was trying to remind her that the man she was looking for didn't exist.

"I don't get it…" Elena mumbled, "…one moment, he was right there, dogging my every step, driving me crazy, being all overprotective…Then I wake up…and he's gone," she said, not talking to anyone in particular. But the girl next to her answered anyway.

"Well, they're men, honey. It's what they do best. They disappear. They make you love them, trust them and then…poof, they just take off, as if they were never there in the first place… leaving you heartbroken," The girl said.

"No, you don't get it…he's gone as in: he's never existed…There's just a big hole in my heart that tells me he was real, but that doesn't count…it doesn't bring him back, it just hurts…. And it's _all_ my fault; I'm sure through some force of nature, I pushed him away; I never told him how much he meant to me. All I did was push and push and tell him how much I loved his brother…I told him he had lost me forever, but I lied, I wonder if he knew that? I really hope he knew that I didn't mean it. I've been terrible to him…God, there's so much I want to tell him right now! How am I going to do that if he's not even here? He'll never know how much he meant to me! "

"Oh, you poor thing! Bartender!" she called, "My friend here needs another shot…"

Elena drank the liquid in one gulp, letting the alcohol burn her lungs. She tried to call Damon again, but instead of dialing his number, she dialed Tyler's.

"Hey, Elena, what's wrong?" Tyler immediately picked up the phone.

"Tyler, is that you?"

"_You_ should know that, you called me!"

"I did?"

"Yes, Elena. Are you drunk?"

"I think…yeah…I'm kind of drunk. You're alive…"

"Yes, why wouldn't I be?"

"Oh, it's just that, people keep turning out to be dead around here."

"Elena, you're not making any sense. Where are you? I'll come and get you."

"I'm in Georgia."

"Georgia? What are you doing in Georgia?"

"Having a time out." She answered simply.

"Hold on, I'm going to track your call!" he said and Elena rolled her eyes. "Is there someone sober around you that I can talk to?" he asked and Elena handed her phone to Bree.

"He wants to talk to you," she whispered.

"Hello, Bree here, how may I help you?" Bree took the phone with a smile

"Hello there, I'm Tyler. A friend of mine is there with you. She seems to be pretty much drunk, would you mind keeping an eye on her, make sure she doesn't disappear before I get there? I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Sure thing, no problem," Bree answered happily, and then she gave Elena back her phone. "Your friend will be here in a few hours. He told me to tell you to stay put and wait for him, he'll take you home."

"My friend…he's not really my friend. I just called him by mistake. The guy I'm actually trying to reach seems to be out of this universe," Elena answered sadly.

"It happens."

"Well, in _my_ world, everything's possible…"

**Mystic Falls**

"So…why Georgia?" Tyler asked.

"I feel tied up to that place."

"How come?"

"Someone I used to know, someone very important to me took me there once."

"Someone from your past?"

"More like from another life…" Elena replied in a sad voice.

"Oh…" was all Tyler could say.

"Could you drop me off here, please?" Elena asked Tyler.

"Here?" Tyler asked, confused.

"Yes."

"At the cemetery?"

"Yes, there's someone I need to visit here."

"Ok."

He pulled over and Elena opened the car door. Just before getting out, she turned and thanked Tyler.

"Thank you for picking me up. I will call Stefan later to come and get me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Ok, call me of you need anything!"

"I will…"

She got out of the car, closed the door and watched Tyler's car disappear around the corner.

She made her way through the graveyard and stopped in front of the headstone she'd been looking for:

_Caroline Forbes 1993-2011 Beloved daughter_

Elena took a few steps closer and rested her hand on the cold stone. She didn't even bother to wipe away the heavy tears falling from her eyes; there were way too many. She just allowed the wind to dry them. She stood there, staring at the tombstone, crying. She cried for her friend…for her brother…for her birth mother…and for _him_… mostly she cried for _him_. She cried for every time she'd been mean to _him_, for every time she pushed _him_ away, for every time she blamed _him_ for every bad thing happening to her, for every time she hadn't been there for _him_; she also cried for every time she would not be able to be there for _him_, to talk to _him_, to listen to _him_, to touch _him_, to look at _him_.

Her life was empty and dark without _him_. She missed _him_…God, she missed _him_ so much; and just the thought of never seeing _him_ again was enough to bring a new flood of tears to her eyes and a sharp pain in her chest.

She closed her eyes and thought about the sound of his voice, the smirk on his face, his beautiful blue eyes watching her.

"Elena…" she heard a voice call, from what seemed like miles away.

"Elena…" she heard someone call her name again, this time close enough for her to recognize it. Stefan was calling her.

She opened her eyes slowly and blinked a few times. She took a long look around and realized she was back in Stefan's room. She looked at the clock beside the bed; it was 7:30 am. She turned her head towards Stefan and found him staring at her with concern in his eyes.

"Did you have a bad dream? Are you ok? You started crying and mumbling something about never seeing him again…"

"Damon…" she whispered.

"What about him? Were you dreaming about Damon?" he asked.

"I…where…how?" she wanted to ask him how she got there. The last thing she remembered was that she had been in the graveyard, in front of Caroline's headstone.

"I think he's in his room," Stefan answered.

"Who?" she asked, confused. 'Wasn't Damon nonexistent in this world? Now Stefan suddenly knew who he was?' her head was pounding and her eyes were burning from crying for hours. It was hard for her to understand what was going on.

"Damon… We were talking about him, and you asked where he was. Elena, are you ok, you look like you just saw a ghost?"

"Damon…he's in his room?" she asked, getting all excited.

"Well yes. Since it's 7:30 in the morning, I imagine that's where he'll be."

She jumped out of bed and ran towards the door. She stopped a few steps in front of it and turned around.

"I need to make sure he's…ok…I…can I…?"

She wasn't making much sense, but Stefan seemed to understand her perfectly. He signaled with his hand, letting her know he was ok with her going to check on Damon. Elena smiled and rushed out.

In less than 60 seconds, she was in front of Damon's bedroom door. She closed her eyes and opened the door. 'What if he's not here? What do I do then?' she asked herself. 'But what if he _is _here?' she continued. She took a deep breath, stepped over the doorsill and opened her eyes again.

She couldn't stop the big smile that appeared on her face when she saw him lying in the middle of the bed. He opened one eye. He was clearly just waking up, and watched her in surprise.

Without even thinking about it, she closed the distance between them. She jumped on the bed in front of him and wrapped her arms around his neck. The fact that he was naked under the covers and that she was wearing just a thin see-through camisole, or the fact that their bodies were practically melting into one another did not bother her at all.

She buried her face in the crook of his neck and started crying softly.

"Damon…you…oh, thank God, you exist…you exist…you're here…" she kept repeating that, until his voice stopped her.

"Elena…I know I'm a vampire and all, but your hug is seriously hurting me here!" he said.

She laughed softly and held onto him even tighter. She had missed his voice, his twisted sense of humor, his presence, his smell, his…_him;_ she'd missed _him_.

"Don't you ever, _ever_ leave me; and don't you ever believe that my life would be better without you in it! My life would be _nothing_ without you… _I_ would be nothing without you," she said between sobs.

Damon's eyes fixed on his brother, who was standing in the doorway. Stefan nodded and Damon wrapped his arms around Elena's slight body.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said.

"Promise me…"

"I promise…"

Anything for her…

**N: **_Ta-da, the end…. I know it not the most original way to end it, or to 'bring' Damon back, but that's the way I saw it, since I didn't want to transform this story into a long one. Now tell me if you liked the story; and this last chapter of course! _


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